Comments on: Raising bilingual children, one year later

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:53:49 +0000

Hello yojinbo, and welcome to the JLR. In general, no, I haven’t. Japanese parents are inclined to share their bed with kids far longer than American parents do, but as I have realized from anecdotal evidence, everyone does this longer than American parents, so I guess American parents are the exception not the norm. ;p

Apart from that no.

By: yojinbo

yojinbo — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:57:23 +0000

Have you found that Japanese parenting techniques sometimes conflict with your own?

By: Doug

Doug — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:56:57 +0000

Thanks Jonathan! I’d be curious to know how you learned Chinese characters and such, since Japanese has them too, and Baby will learn them one of these days.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:40:13 +0000

Another fascinating posting – so nice to get an insight into “Baby’s” language acquisition and all the cultural ramifications that come along with it. I’m especially intrigued by your observations about her grasp of writing systems … I was raised speaking English and Taiwanese at growing up. I of course learned English in school and only later in life did I start to gain some basic understanding of Mandarin Chinese characters. I can only wonder what it is like trying to acquire two writing systems at once. I certainly admire that you two are raising your daughter bilingually, from an early age.

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:41:08 +0000

Ha ha ha, hello C and welcome to the JLR! I deserve no credit for this. We tried originally to teach 50-50 English and Japanese, but it became clear real quick (in related older post) that she was learning Japanese much faster by virtue of being around Mommy so much. My ham-fisted efforts teach English didn’t really work, especially after she stayed at the Grandparents house in Japan for a few months and really took off. I was worried for a time until talking with co-workers above, and realized that if I let things take theri course, she’d pick up both without too much stress. So, I talk to her in English, but I also try not to force the issue either. Due to her interest in English things now, that’s helping a lot too.

By: C

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:21:27 +0000

I applaud the fact that you are immersing your child in both languages. Too often have I see bi-racial parents raising their children on only one language, due to the ignorant notion that learning languages has to be compartmentalized. Not just bi-racial parents, more often so in the case of immigrants moving to another country. I know most of those kids will probably regret not being raised in a more multi-language environment, just as you are, I suppose Just like I am. There are at least another 2 languages I could probably be fluent in if only my parents speak them to me more often.

That’s why I shoot my monolingual nephews furtive, pitiful glances while I try talking to their parents about uncompartmentalized language learning (the usual argument is that their English will suffer if they don’t speak English at home, even though they go to an international school or live in Australia or have an English dad) while I try to juggle between eating and feeling smug inside. Because, y’know, the whole Chinese culture revolves around eating on a round table while exchanging banters.

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:08:45 +0000

Hi Yazmin and welcome to the JLR! Best wishes on your first child and thank you for the input. It’s good to get a wider audience on the subject beyond the East-Asian one, as I think it affects a lot of people/parents.

By: Yazmin

Yazmin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:44:23 +0000

I was raised speaking Spanish until 4, at which point I was immersed in an English only day care as my mom moved to the states from Puerto Rico. I will have to admit that there was a lot of pointing to get what I needed back then, but my love of languages never wavered.

In the process, my capabilities with Spanish fell behind those of English. Even now in my 30′s, I’m more self-conscious about speaking Spanish than English at any given time, assuming the other person may be having some difficulty with what I am saying or being embarrassed at my lack of general vocabulary. I would go as far to admit that when I was actively speaking them, my French and my Arabic skills were much better than that of my Spanish skills.

It’s made me think one of the keys to truly ensuring that a child retains and feels comfortable switching between languages is regular exposure. We easily fell into English at home once we moved to the states and were it not for the necessity to speak to my grandmother during my summers in Puerto Rico, I may never have learned as much as I did. We’re expecting our 1st child this year as well and will be trying the 1 parent/1 language method ourselves.

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:42:19 +0000

Amen to that. I really wish I had more multi-lingual experience growing up, rather than trying to learn it as an overworked, tired adult. ;-p I also regret some opportunities to study abroad in high school that I didn’t take up, due to very superfluous reasons. Ah well.

By: Tornadoes28

Tornadoes28 — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:57:31 +0000

Yes, both my children have also been going to a Japanese preschool which I think is a great idea both for language and culture. If they can retain their Japanese language abilities and would be great.